British passengers have described a ‘total shambles’ at Malaga Airport after a drone sighting forced flights to divert to Sevilla, leaving some travellers facing €500 taxi journeys to reach the Costa del Sol.
The disruption unfolded on Sunday night after several flight crews reported seeing an unidentified drone close to the final approach to runway 12.
Incoming flights were temporarily prevented from landing as a safety precaution, with aircraft arriving from destinations including Bristol, Birmingham, London, Cork, Madrid and Tirana among those affected.
Several were diverted around 200km away to Sevilla.
Hayley Cooper told the Spanish Eye her family’s easyJet flight from London Luton to Malaga was rerouted to Sevilla.
She claimed passengers were initially told they would continue by air to Malaga once the runway reopened, only for easyJet to later decide to offload them in Sevilla.
According to Cooper, passengers were then promised a bus at midnight, some six hours after they had originally been due to land in Malaga, but the coaches never arrived.
‘Passengers have been left stranded in Sevilla having to get their own transport,’ she claimed.
She added that the disruption came in the middle of the night, leaving hundreds of travellers, including families with young children and babies, with few options.
For some, the alternative was extraordinarily expensive.
Cooper said her brother and his partner were forced to pay €500 for a taxi from Sevilla.
Passengers kept onboard before returning to Malaga
Other diverted flights eventually managed to continue their journeys by air.
Maureen Elizabeth Hayter told The Spanish Eye that the 5pm easyJet flight from Leeds was also diverted to Sevilla.
‘We sat on the plane while it refuelled and waited for traffic control instructions,’ she said.
‘We finally were returned to a very chaotic Malaga airport. Missed the last bus so had to taxi home, at considerable cost.’
A Ryanair passenger arriving from Bristol reported a similar diversion but a somewhat better outcome.
Kim Board said the aircraft had been circling for several minutes and was preparing to land in Malaga when it was diverted to Sevilla.
Passengers remained onboard for almost an hour before the plane was able to take off again and complete its journey to Malaga.
She eventually arrived home around three hours later than expected.
‘Zero support’
The chaos was not limited to passengers trying to reach Malaga.
Brits attempting to fly home also reported significant disruption.
Haydn Williams said his 6.30pm easyJet flight from Malaga to London Luton was initially delayed by two hours before eventually being cancelled after 11pm.
He described the situation as ‘a shambles’, alleging there was ‘zero support’ from easyJet staff, no alternative flights and incorrect information.
Williams said he had been forced to sleep at Malaga Airport overnight and feared the disruption could cause him to miss a family cruise.
Another traveller reported a one-hour delay to a Jet2 service to Bristol, while saying an easyJet Bristol flight had been cancelled.
The Spanish Eye has contacted Easyjet for comment.
Drone brought arrivals to a halt
The disruption began after multiple crews reported a drone near the approach to Malaga Airport’s runway 12.
Air traffic controllers temporarily suspended arrivals while the incident was dealt with, with delays and diversions introduced for safety reasons.
At around 10pm, approaches to Malaga were allowed to resume, although controllers warned that clearing the resulting backlog would take time.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
